Ogden Newspapers acquires two more Ohio dailies

Ogden Newspapers will purchase The Courier of Findlay and the Review Times of Fostoria from the Findlay Publishing Co., the two companies announced Wednesday.

Ogden Newspapers CEO Robert Nutting commended, “The residents of Findlay and Fostoria have been well-served by The Courier and the Review Times, and we hope to honor and build on their legacy of impressive work. We look forward to publishing great community-focused newspapers and operating their vital digital media platforms to serve the residents of the Greater Findlay Area long into the future.”

Karl Heminger and his brother Kurt are the fourth generation of their family to operate the newspapers and Heminger said the Nutting family was the right choice to be the newspapers’ next stewards.

“The Courier has been the vital watchdog for our community since Volume 1, Issue 1. We’ve helped make Findlay and Hancock County a better place to live. My family’s been honored to be part of this history for four generations and 131 years,” Heminger said. “… The family, with great sadness, has decided it’s time to let a bigger and stronger family push ahead. We’ve decided to sell the Courier and Review Times to the Nutting family and Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling, West Virginia. They’ve been in the newspaper business almost as long as we have. But they have the scale and financial heft to push their way to the top of the hill. But maybe most importantly they are also a family business and share the same commitment to the communities they live in.”

“The Findlay and Fostoria newspapers are becoming part of one of the largest news-gathering teams in Ohio,” Nutting said. “The addition of The Courier and the Review Times to our family of newspapers will provide opportunities to readers — both in print and online — to experience more comprehensive community news coverage and in-depth reporting on regional issues.”

He added, “We continue to believe very strongly in the power of printed newspapers. We believe in their value to readers, advertisers, and communities. We believe the role of newspapers such as The Findlay Courier and the Review Times are fundamental to communities now more than ever. When you combine the print newspaper readership and its growing online readership with the range of targeted niche publications, these outlets serve more readers and advertisers than any other media outlet.”

The sale is expected to close later this month.